A pleasure to be cruising today. Light winds, a hint of blue skies and a warmer feel. And an added bonus, we got to have a lie in too. It was after 8 then when we set off. Ahead lay the last 5 wide locks on this section and then its all back to the singles once we reach Foxton.
Today's earlyish start meant we got to see a rare sight. An iridescent cloud which has tiny ice crystals or water droplets in the air causing a rainbow effect. I noticed the smaller one first and then a second appeared much bigger which had more of an arc. Within 30 seconds both had disappeared. Gosh, that was lucky. Good job the camera is always on hand.
Several of the pounds were low between Pywell lock and Kibworth second lock. Strange as there was very little leakage through the lock gates. Possible leak in the pounds maybe? At this time of year not much in the way of boat traffic but come Easter with the increase, this may well become a problem.
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| Low pounds |
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| Left-hand side and in the distance is Pywell's lock with Kibworth first and second locks on the right. |
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| Finding boaters gold (named first by Sue, Nb No ProblemXL) |
We needed diesel and Debdale Marina was the place to stop. 85p ltr plus propulsion wasn't to bad a price. The pump has a very short hose so the stern has to be positioned just right. Once FS was secured Ian went in search of the manager. Before he even reached the office a remark from a chap taking his rubbish to the bins mentioned that he was an avid reader of the blog. His wife then came over to say hello. She mentioned their boat name of Duxllandyn and she was Marianne and husband name was Mike. All through the diesel fill and well after we nattered. Like old friends but who we had never met. That's how it is on the waterways. It's just one big community always finding time to stop and chat. Lovely to have met you both and good luck in getting to Leeds & Liverpool.
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| That Duxllandyn moored on the left |
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| Mike, Ian and Marianne |
Didn't take long after leaving Debdale to arrive at Foxton Locks. While Ian went to empty the loo I walked up to find the lock keeper.
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| The two lock keepers ahead on the right (in blue) |
Now Foxton Locks consists of two "staircases" each of five locks and a passing place in the middle. Having found a volunteer Lockie nearly at the top of the flight, he almost dashed my hopes of ascending the staircase when he said a boat was already on its way down and two more were ready to follow. But just as I thought all was lost the lock keeper had a change of plan and said if we were quick we could start the ascent and wait in the middle for that other boat to pass.
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| Bottom lock |
There is a saying to remember for anyone doing Foxton staircase locks. It goes, Red before white and you're alright but white before red and your dead! By lifting the red paddle first it filled the lock I had entered from the side pond. By then lifting the white paddle it empties the next lock full of water back into the side pond to replenish the water.
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| That's Ian lifting the red paddles first. |
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| Side ponds |
As it turned out the other boat reached the layby before us making my life so much easier by cruising straight into the next lock.
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| The descending boat waiting in the layby on the right. |
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| Looking back down the staircase. |
Because of the lock keepers help we did all 10 locks in 45 minutes. A welcome bacon buttie awaited us at the top. We felt that £3 pp was a good price to pay for this scrumptious treat.
We cruised a further 2 miles before finding a lovely length of moorings with a wide towpath suitable for Ian to get the chainsaw out to cut that boaters gold into manageable lengths. No sooner had we stopped than a bunch of gongoozlers came rushing over! Glad it was only the four-legged kind though!
And wildlife today,
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